CMAT 2018 held today on January 20, by all means remained a moderate exam with less than 50% questions being termed as difficult. According to experts the CMAT cut offs may go up for admission to MBA 2018-20 batch in all the top B-schools

It is expected that an overall score of 228 will get 99 percentile while a score of 190 marks may get 95 percentile in CMAT 2018

CMAT 2018 held today on January 20, by all means remained a moderate exam with less than 50% questions being termed as difficult. According to experts the CMAT cut offs may go up for admission to MBA 2018-20 batch in all the top B-schools like JBIMS, SIMSREE, K J Somaiya, GIM Goa among others.

The presence of Data Interpretation (DI) questions in Quant section was very less but the Language comprehension had good number of Vocabulary based questions with very close and confusing answer options. Logical Reasoning, despite being termed as a bit tricky, remained quite doable and the CMAT test takers could solve 17-18 questions out of 25 in LR section.

General Awareness (GK) remained a mix of easy and difficult questions. The questions were based on Static GK, Current affairs, appointments, elections, constitution among others. One of the questions like ‘What is the term for early elections’ tokk many students for a ride.

CMAT 2018 exam was held today on January 20, 2018 from 9.30AM to 12.30PM. All the test takers had to report at the designated test venue at 8AM. The exam did not throw any surprise for the test takers although it has been termed as easy to moderate exam. It is anticipated that cut offs would increase in top B-schools shortlists.

Going by the feedback from the test takers, CMAT 2018 exam was reported successful and glitch free test today. The exam was conducted in a single session across the country. The test not only began on time but also did not face technical issues although few stray cases of technical glitch were reported.

Overall Analysis
CMAT 2018 overall was on the same pattern as that of last year with a mix of easy and difficult questions.

Total questions: 100

Total marks: 400

Maximum Marks per right answer: 4

Negative marks for each wrong answer: -1

Composition of sections and Difficulty level:

Section Name

Total questions

Total marks

Difficulty level

Language Comprehension

25

100

Moderate, Vocab tricky

Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation

25

100

Easy to Moderate fewer DI questions

Logical Reasoning

25

100

Moderate

General Awareness

25

100

Moderate to difficult

Expected Cut off: 180 marks

CMAT Sectional Analysis
There were four sections in CMAT 2018 exam. The section-wise analysis is shared below:

Data Interpretation: 2 Questions. Many candidates found them a bit lengthy so left them. Others attempted at the cost of difficult Quant questions

Expected Cut off: 50 marks

Detailed Analysis
Out of 25 questions in this section, 4-5 questions had higher difficulty level. The section contained all the single questions. CMAT 2018 exam had more questions on Arithmetic than on other parts of mathematics.

Questions were based on Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Number system, Modern Math among others. The share of questions on Data Interpretation in CMAT remained low again with 2-3 questions out of total 25 questions. Those who attempted the easy questions first and then moved to difficult questions in this section would emerge as winner.

An accurate attempt of 14-15 questions out of 25 questions in this section can award you around 50-55 marks which may lead to 92-95 percentile in Quant & DI section.

Logical Reasoning

The 2nd section in CMAT was Logical reasoning (LR). The LR section in CMAT 2018 had many easy questions.

Most of the questions in LR section were based on Arrangements, Groups, Blood relations. A few questions were time consuming and were a little difficult. As compared to last year Reasoning section was more or less on the same pattern. 18-20 attempts with 90% accuracy can award you with a 95 percentile in LR section.

Language Comprehension

Language comprehension in CMAT had questions on Verbal Ability as well Reading Comprehension.

Total questions: 25

Total marks: 100

Maximum Marks per right answer: 4

Negative marks for each wrong answer: -1

Composition of questions: RC passages, Grammar, Vocabulary

Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate. A few Vocabulary based questions had very close answer options.

Expected Cut off: 45 marks

Detailed Analysis
There was more presence of Vocabulary questions as compared to last year in CMAT this year. Most of the vocabulary based questions had very close answer options which created confusion among the test takers. CMAT had four RC passages with a total of 15 questions. A few of the questions had higher difficulty also.

There were 3 short passages of around 300-400 words while 1 passage was long with around 600-700 words. The short passages were followed by 3 questions each while long passage was followed by 6 questions. Most of the questions were easy to answer but a few questions following the short passages were difficult. Remaining 10 questions focused on vocabulary; grammar; fill in the blanks, statements.

Candidates who attempted 16-18 questions with 90% accuracy could score 95 percentile in this section.

General Awareness (GK)

Going by its reputation of being a game changer, GK, despite being the last section, made its presence felt well in this year CMAT exam.

Total questions: 25

Total marks: 100

Maximum Marks per right answer: 4

Negative marks for each wrong answer: -1

Composition of questions: Static GK, current affairs, social issues, elections in India, Constitution of India, Famous personality

Difficulty Level: Moderate to difficult. A few questions were difficult and the candidates were not able to answer them.

Expected Cut off: 40 marks

Detailed Analysis

GK section in CMAT 2018 exam had mix of questions on current affairs and on conventional topics. This section had a good number of different nature questions on elections in India, Articles of constitution, identification of personalities among others.

Constitutional knowledge, understanding of federal structure of Indian Polity, daily reading and analysing the current events surely helped the candidates in this section. Current affairs had the questions on recent happenings- national and international. There were more static questions than questions on current affairs.

A few questions in GK section were on:

What is the term used for conducting early elections;

Reason behind TajMahal turning black;

Article 370 and Article 299 in the Constitution of India;

Identify the famous personality of the cricket

Those who attempted 12-14 questions with 85% accuracy in this section can score the sectional percentile of 94.

Cut Offs to score 99 sectional Percentile

Section

Total attempts

Percentile at 90% accurate attempts

Percentile at 80% accurate attempts

Percentile at 70% accurate attempts

Quant & DI

20-22

99

98

96

Language Comprehension

19-21

99

98

95

Logical Reasoning

18-20

99

98

95

General Awareness

16-18

99

97

95

Expected overall cut offs
It is expected that an overall score of 228 will get 99 percentile while a score of 190 marks may get 95 percentile in CMAT 2018

Overall score

Cut off percentile

220-230

99

180-190

95

160-170

90

150-160

85

135-140

80

125-130

75

115-120

70

105-110

65

100-105

60

A few candidates completed the test before the scheduled time and wanted to come out of the testing rooms. But they were not allowed to come out before the exam was over at 12.30PM.